ZEISS 18mm f/2.8 overview

1Description

A truly wide-angle prime characterized by its advanced optical design and unique physical attributes, the Batis 18mm f/2.8 Lens from ZEISS is designed for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras. The innovative design of this lens features an OLED display that highlights the focus distance and depth of field range for quickly recognizing your focusing parameters, and autofocus is handled by linear motors that maintain quick, quiet, and smooth performance. In regard to optics, the lens employs a Distagon concept with a floating elements design that maintains consistent sharpness and illumination throughout the focusing range, and a series of aspherical and special glass elements help to control both chromatic and spherical aberrations. A ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating has also been applied to individual elements in order to suppress flare and ghosting for improved contrast and color fidelity, and the lens also sports a dust- and moisture-sealed design to permit its use in trying environments. Well-suited to interior, architectural, and astrophotography applications, the Batis 18mm f/2.8 blends its extremely wide 99° angle of view with a high degree of functionality.

A versatile wide-angle prime, this 18mm lens is designed specifically for full-frame E-mount mirrorless digital cameras, however can also be used on APS-C models where it will provide a 27mm equivalent focal length.

Maximum f/2.8 aperture is suitable for working in difficult and low-light conditions.

Two aspherical elements, five elements made from special glass, and a pair of aspherical elements also made from special glass are featured, and all contribute to significantly reducing chromatic and spherical aberrations for improved clarity, sharpness, and resolution.

ZEISS T* anti-reflective coatings have been applied to each lens surface to help minimize reflections in order to provide greater image clarity, contrast, and color fidelity.

Integrated OLED display on the top of the lens shows the distance of the focal plane from the camera as well as the depth of field range for quickly recognizing the parameters of focus in use, even when working in low-light conditions.

Linear motors benefit the autofocus performance of the lens and provide smooth, fast, and quiet operation. For manual focusing, a rubberized ring offers greater tactile control for precise placement of focus.

Dust and weather-sealed construction benefits using the lens in inclement shooting conditions.

ZEISS 18mm f/2.8 reviews

Batis 18mm f/2.8 Lens for Sony E Mount is rated
4.9 out of
5 by
57.

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Anonymous from
not since HasselbladClarity not seen since shooting Hasselblad with film. Shooting with a Sony a6300 and this lens yields edge to edge resolution than shames the results from a Canon 6D with the 17-40L , or 24-105L. No contest. Night ? perfect, non color disposed results corner to corner. Best WA i have used. Buyers note, as mentioned by others, the front lens cap has insufficient tension to stay in place with nearly any lateral bump. Many other adjectives come to mind. I wrote to Zeiss to point out the problem, the respondent denied the problem based on how many people have used the lens... so we leave it at they are great at optics, but plan on replacing the lens cap.

Date published: 2016-10-31

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Edward from
A Jewel in the CrownI will join the crowd in praising the Basis 18/2.8 lens as another jewel in the Sony lens lineup. I bought this lens for wide-field astrophography and starry landscapes. It was a hard choice between the this lens and the Loxia 21/2.8, but the wider field and lower (reported) amount of coma clinched the deal. While the Basis does not have manual focusing, per se, the OLED indicated accurately established infinity focus, even without an hard stop. After years of using a variety of DSLRs, we have come to appreciate wide angle lenses on the Sony A7 are sharp from corner to corner. The Basis 18/2.8 is no exception. Furthermore, it is nearly free of flare and sunspots, even under extreme conditions.

Date published: 2017-03-01

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Hardie from
Amazing Lens for Landscape PhotographyI've been using the Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens before I bought this. The sony is ok and sharp enough but so much distortion that you really have to pick you're subject matter carefully. The zeiss lens is amazing with very little distortion and tack sharp edge to edge. Brings me back to my days of shooting with Hasselblad lenses. I am a professional fine art landscape photographer and would absolutely recommend this to anyone as a really good prime lens. I can live without the 2mm I've lost because the quality I have gained is unsurpassed.

Date published: 2016-12-12

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Akram Mellice from
Sharp Lens, lots of distortionThe lens is design is really slick, it's sharp and has controlled CA. It's not heavy and feels good on my A7Rii. I absolutely love the LED and it's quite useful for landscape. The lens has lots of distortion more than what you would see normally. Lens profiles on both Lightroom and Capture One didn't fix the problem all the way. You have to go in and fix the distortion yourself. It may not always be a problem depending on what you're shooting but if you're shooting cityscapes then you need to fix distortion. See the attached shot that I took of NYC downtown from Jersey City. The scene was really distorted and I had to crop quite a bit to correct it.

Date published: 2016-07-28

Rated 5 out of
5 by
valente from
Perhaps the best wide angle I've ever used.I am an architectural photographer who shoots mainly high end homes for magazines and real estate agents. My equipment: Sony A7RII + 16-35 FE. Received the Batis 18mm today and immediately placing my 16-35 for sale in Craigslist. THe lens is expensive but amazing. Tack sharp. And somehow handles the camera AWB much much better even though I still do manual white balance. Things I need to get used to are shooting at F2.8 to about F 5.6. I normally shoot at F8-F11 so there's no depth of field problem. However I do like shooting with wider aperture because I'm dealing with dim light situations all the time. I have to place the focus point in the distance as not to blur anything in the foreground. So far, I don't miss the zoom. Also the lens is much lighter than the 16-35. I'm in my late 70s and the less weight to lug around the better.

Date published: 2016-08-25

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Jacky from
Another Hall of Fame Zeiss lensThe sharpness at f/2.8 is as good as FE 16-35mm stopped down and the corner sharpness is untouchable by the zoom lens. It reminds me why I have always preferred prime lenses over zoom. Stopped down slightly to f/4 and it easily out-resolves the 24mp a7 sensor; eye-ball cutting sharpness is a given across the entire frame, spare the extreme 1% corner of photo. The 18-pointed sunstars are also very well defined and attractive. I find the colour transmission and contrast to be wonderful and the raw file requires only minimal amount of adjustments to achieve my desired result. The OLED display gets some love finally as I find it very intuitive on a super wide angle, just glance on the display and you know the depth of field, even in the darkest of nights. Although a little bulky, it weighs in at a feather weight of 330 gram and I can do urban exploration all day long with a7 and this lens on my neck strap. I will treat this lens as my family heirloom thank you very much :)

Date published: 2016-05-10

Rated 5 out of
5 by
stars&bars from
My favorite lensI am an amateur, so I will leave the technical details to those more qualified. I have a Sony A7s ii, and I have all three Zeiss Batis lenses which I use with the camera. The 85mm is great, and the 25mm is a fantastic lens as well, but this has become my walking around lens. The pictures are clear and sharp. It is very fast for auto focus, although I do use manual focus sometimes when the subject is complicated such as the night sky or crowded city streets where the camera has to guess its subject. The photos from this lens seem to match what the eye sees, so that photos look more true to life. If I had only one lens, this would be it for the type of photography that I do. My wife is a realtor. I have used this lens to take interior pictures of homes she has listed for sale. The pictures capture the room size and layout much better than anything she has used in the past. Zeiss lenses are pricey, but in my opinion they are worth the money.

Date published: 2016-11-04

Rated 5 out of
5 by
John from
YesThis is truly a great lens. When using manual focus the OLED display on the lens lets me set the hyper focal distance with night time photography. The lens is very well build other than the cheap lens cap that comes with it. And I do mean cheap. How Zeiss could let this lens out the door with this cap is a mystery. If you are smart you will buy a generic lens cap along with the lens. Trust me, the Zeiss cap won't stay on and who needs a scratch on a new lens. It is a nice lens and you won't be disappointed.